Youtube is the most widely used video streaming platform on the Internet, and boasts over a billion users[1]. It hosts videos which cater to almost every possible topic, interest, or genre; in hundreds of different languages. It is an online tool which is almost completely unrivalled in utility (rivalled only by Google), due to having practically every kind of content.

How Does It Work

Accessing YouTube is exceedingly easy. It is accessed by typing Youtube.com into the URL bar (like shown) or by searching YouTube into any major search engine (such as Google or Bing).

Once the site has been reached the user is greated by YouTube’s homepage. Homepage’s are tailored to each individual user, which is generated using the user’s previous search history. However, if no user is logged in then a default homepage is shown. Which looks like this:

Down the left-hand side is a list of interests. This lists a small portion of the interests/topics available on YouTube. To the right of the YouTube logo is the search bar. This is used by entering keywords/titles pertaining to the type of video/specific video you wish to watch. Additionally, below the search bar is are various videos to watch. Some of which are there due to their popularity at the current time, and some are there due their Channel’s current popularity.

What’s a Channel?

To upload videos onto YouTube you must first create an account. Once an account is created it becomes a ‘channel’. When you upload a video it is uploaded to your channel, and when one of your videos is watched it is listed as being uploaded by your channel.

Watching a Video

Once you have chosen a video to watch it is accessed by clicking the video title or the thumbnail (small still image related to the video).

Pros

The primary advantage to using YouTube over other online tools is it’s range of content. It can be used for education and entertainment. There are many successful YouTube channels which produce solely educational content[2], and there are many more which produce entertaining content. No other online tool itself offers such an extensive range of content. Additionally, due to it being the premiere service for watching videos (and one of the most well known websites of all time) it attracts the majority of content creators. Which makes similar services (such as Vimeo) very uncompetitive due YouTube’s monopoly.

Watching is More Engaging

The second biggest advantage of YouTube to other services is the fact watching a video to the average person can be more engaging than reading[3], and sometimes even more practical. Videos can create engagement in ways text cannot. The combination of audio and visual creates an easier to engage with medium. On top of that reading requires complete focus, where as a video can be listened to casually and still engage the listener.

Cons

Bandwidth

YouTube uses a lot more bandwidth than typically every other online tool. This typically isn’t a problem in the Western world however, in many rural areas and less developed countries YouTube cannot be used as easily due to poor internet speeds.

Too Much Content

Anyone can upload a video to YouTube with great ease. While this can be considered an advantage of the platform it comes with its own disadvantages. The main one being educational content from a video can be of dubious accuracy. This is a disadvantage of the internet as a whole but is exaggerated on YouTube due to the ease with which someone can upload a video (in comparison having creating your own website or having a news site publish information is far more difficult).

YouTube Changes Everything

These reasons are what makes YouTube so impactful in everyday life. For many people YouTube is their primary source of entertainment or news or extra-curricular education (or all of these). YouTube has changed the way people use the internet, no longer do people primarily always use text based websites. YouTube will never become the centre of all web traffic as text based websites will always have a place and user base. What YouTube has done is given people the option to conduct almost all of their online interests through the medium of video. Which millions of people do.

[1] YouTube, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html, (Acessed: 17 November 2016)

[2] Vsauce, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce, (Accessed: 17 November 2016)

[3] Steers, Natalie (April 2013), Online videos more engaging than text, study finds, http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/technology/online-videos-more-engaging-than-text-study-finds